Saint Paul Preaching

Artist Sebastiano Ricci (Italian, 1659-1734)

Place of OriginEngland

Date1712-1716

DimensionsH: 73 1/2 in. (186.9 cm); W: 62 1/2 in. (158.8 cm)

MediumOil on canvas

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1966.112

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 27

Label TextAccording to the Bible, Paul converted to Christianity after experiencing a powerful vision of the resurrected Christ. He then became a devoted evangelist, traveling around the ancient Roman world preaching his new-found faith. In this painting by Italian artist Sebastiano Ricci, Paul is shown speaking before a large crowd, probably either in Athens or Corinth. Ricci leads our eye to the apostle with the brilliant scarlet of his cloak, the tall columns behind him, and the red banner displayed at the top of the arch in the background, the trailing end of which seems to point directly at Paul. The crowd—not all of whom are paying rapt attention—is varied in age, gender, race, and social class. Prominently placed is a portly figure in gold whose hands grasp his belt. This is likely a self-portrait of Ricci himself, in the role of jester—a figure that had been established by Venetian Renaissance artist Veronese (whom Ricci admired) as an emblem of artistic license. This painting was probably commissioned by Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington (1698–1753) while Ricci was working in England.Published ReferencesVertue Notebooks, IV, Walpole Society, XXIV, 1935-1936, p. 118.

Illustrated London News, Jan. 6, 1951, p. 24, illus.

Osti, O., "Sebastiano Ricci in Inghilterra," Commentari, II, 1951, p. 122, fig. 127.

Art News, vol. 57, no. 4, Summer 1958, p. 13, illus.

Connoisseur, Oct. 1958, p. 126, no. 2, illus.

Sutton, Denys, Christie's Since the War, 1945-1958, London, 1959, p. 64, p. 135.

Nicolson, B., "Sebastiano Ricci and Lord Burlington," Burlington Magazine, CV, Mar. 1963, p. 122.

"La Chronique des Arts," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 71, no. 1189, Feb. 1968, p. 63, no. 242, repr.

"Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," Art Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 2, Summer 1968, p. 206.

"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 12, no. 4, Winter 1969, p. 108, repr.

Gombrich, E.H., The Ideas of Progress and Their Impact on Art, New York, 1971, p. 12, repr. p. 13.

Frederick, B., and F. Zeri, Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Paintings in North American Collections, Cambridge, MA, 1972, pp. 175, 439.

Ewing, Dan, "A New Sabastiano Ricci," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 17, no. 1, 1974, p. 9.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 141-142, pl. 33.

Daniels, Jeffery, L'opera completa di Sebastiano Ricci, Milan, 1976, no. 292, p. 115, repr p. 114.

Daniels, Jeffery, Sebastiano Ricci, Hove (Sussex), 1976, no. 420, p. 117, repr. fig. 133.

Gombrich, Ernst H., Kunst und Fortschritt: Wirkung und Wandlung einer Idee, Cologne, 1978, p. 23, repr. fig. 11.

Sutton, Denys, "Aspects of British Collecting: Augustan Virtuosi," Apollo, vol. 114, no. 237, Nov. 1981, repr. (col.) pl. VI, p. 315.

Kauffmann, C.M., Catalogue of Paintings in the Wellington Museum, London, 1982, p. 106.

Rizzi, Aldo, Sebastiano Ricci, Milan, 1989, repr. p. 27 (col.) [not in exhibition].

Scarpa, Annalisa, Sebastiano Ricci, Milano, Alfieri, 2006, no. 467, pp. 307-308, fig. 458, p. 570.

Exhibition HistoryLondon, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Eighteenth Century Venice, 1951, no. 109 (cat. by F.J.B. Watson).

London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Third International Art Treasures Exhibition Presented by C. I. N. O. A. (International Confederation of Art Dealers), 1962, p. 6, no. 34, illus.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minn. 1969.

Art Institute of Chicago, Painting in Italy in the Eighteenth Century: Rococo to Romanticism, 1970, no. 38, repr. p. 99 (entry by B. Hannegan).